Craigslist victims continue to rise

Awful. Those poor people.

I am sorry for the victims. The house was purchased in 06 for 440k and a similar house on the same street was recently sold for 335k. This is my theory: he bought the house at the peak and thought he was ripped off. He decided he doesn't want to pay the mortgage any more (he financed it 100%). Instead of foreclosing it and having his credit ruined, he had the plan of stealing $2400x50=120k and ran to his native country. His only expense is for the copy of about 100 keys. I can't see how one can not fall victim to this scam.

On a larger level, this is a sad commentary on Suburban living-neighbors not knowing each other or interacting with one another.

Unfortunately, it is such a well made scam that I bet the house does not even belong him, and that is probably not his name. At least neighbors saw him leave in a U-haul, so rental records can be checked. Also, a name like Singh is as common as the last name Brown or Smith. Good luck to detectives that they find that **** AND his **** wife and put them in prison for afew years, then when they get out deport them!

Maybe there is a way for all the victims to be helped by local churches? the United Way? The Red Cross?

Find this MFer Singh and hang his Fing a_-!

With the ability to post anonymously, scams will continue to happen all over the internet. Even one site (listed in our news) admits they do not check out their people and users have fallen to scammers many times.
There needs to be radical change to remove the ability to be anonymous. Why can we not be pro-active instead of reactive?

Why not post a picure of the landlord and a contact number in case he is spotted?

gina wrote:

Why not post a picure of the landlord and a contact number in case he is spotted?

His picture with the story has been posted on network TV and a hold was placed on his passport.
I sure hope they get this guy soon and his wife and make them do hard time before deporting them if they are not US citizens.

I think this all falls back on Craig's list in not having in place some kind of control.
It looks like rental scams through Craig's list is also happening in San Francisco as witnessed by the article posted today in the
San Francisco Gate: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi...

Finding Mr. Singh is like trying to find a Mr. Kim or a Mr. Garcia.
Except for the fact that this hindu is sitting pretty on his throne in India or wherever the freak he's from, BTW does India have an extradition treaty with the US?

This is a travesty and could be avoided with a bit of screening prior to renting a place. Any Realtor or Real Estate Broker could verify the correct owners name and if you deal with a Broker you are generally assured of the accurate ownership.
A code of ethics guarantee accuracy in dealing with the broker and his dealings with the client.
This is a crime of opportunity that should be obliterated.

Craig's list should be held accountable also for some of the damages to the victims.

I live right around the coner from the house and I have a friend who lives two doors down. I wanted thant that house really bad but my father always told me if it sounds to good to be true than it's not. So i did not give money I spoke with him on the phone and they asked for money for a cridet check of two hundred dollars but I still felt wierd about it. I fell that they should sell the house from underhim and give the people back there money

I respectfully disagree with postings that Craigslist should be held in any way accountable for this fraud. The perpetrators were ruthless thieves who preyed upon the good faith of potential renters who trusted them. They should be hung on a high rack. However, what if one bought a car from a person listing on Craigslist and the engine was faulty? Should Craigslist be on the hook for repairs?

As with the woman who was conned with the gold bar scam, there are heartless people with no conscience who prey upon the trusting. What if they would have listed in Pennysaver or in the Star-News, and perpetrated this scam? Should those publications be made to shoulder the financial responsibility of reimbursement to victims? I submit they should not, to hammer the real villains, the thieves.

lisa garza wrote:

I live right around the coner from the house and I have a friend who lives two doors down. I wanted thant that house really bad but my father always told me if it sounds to good to be true than it's not. So i did not give money I spoke with him on the phone and they asked for money for a cridet check of two hundred dollars but I still felt wierd about it. I fell that they should sell the house from underhim and give the people back there money

Congrats! your Daddy taught you right.

I happen to be one of the craiglist victims, fortunantly for me I'm not homeless and im not broke. The man that scamed us did a very good job of doing. He told us about late fees and stated the utilities he was going to supply, he even told us of the charge if we ever lost the keys. I was suspicious but the 1,200 a month allows your mind to justify it in different ways. It was devistating when we found out, and we will see just how great our police search system is, but im not counting on ever recieving my money back.
One thing that I ask my self is, was it worth the 102K to be a felon and have all your properties seized. Its seems like a rather desperate move to cash in when property values are down. May god have mercy on him, because all of the victims will probably show the same mercy he showed us when he took off with our money.

This man (and his wife) did so much more than this rental scam. He had an "investment" company and my husband and I lost our life's savings($180,000) to this man. It turns out he had so many other scams going on. I think we should all band together. There's power in numbers. Let's go through Gloria Molina's office and stick together.

they should just shutdown the craiglist website. what a ripoff.

Another Victim - We have all spoken with Gloria Molinas office and she has not been much assistance. I encourage you to contact her office, she has all of our contact information who were involved in this particular scam. If she is willing to do something we are waiting...
The Sheriffs really need to find Singh so he does not continue to steal from hardworking people.

Don't think this is Craigslist fault...they didn't pull the scam. If the same ads were run in your paper would they be "Star News Victims"?

These people are not Craig's List victims, and it is highly unethical on the part of this reporter to make this statement. They are victims of a con-man, and nothing else.

This is no more the fault of Craig's List than it would be of any other classified site. These people should have done the checking on their own, it is their responsibility and no ones elses. If I buy a car that turns out to be a lemon that I saw an ad for in the local paper, is that paper at fault somehow for it?? Of course not, it is absurd. Craig's List is not anonymous by the way, when you send an email to an ad, and that person responds you are getting their real email address. There are no controls they could implement that could have assisted any of these people in their issue.